8 Overvalued Players for Fantasy Baseball in 2017
Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs
Position Rank: 4th
Current ADP: 91.46
To say the catcher position is a bit top-heavy is an understatement. NFBC currently shows the top three backstops going within the first 55 picks (Buster Posey at 37.45, Gary Sanchez at 49.93 and Jonathan Lucroy at 52.96) and just one more going inside the top 100.
That one other player just so happens to be Willson Contreras, who has 283 regular-season MLB plate appearances to his name. His rookie campaign was an encouraging one -- an .845 OPS with 12 homers, 35 RBI's and 33 runs scored -- but it seems as if the excitement from his top-prospect pedigree is carrying a little more weight than it should.
Below are the 2017 Steamer Projections for four catchers. See if you can find out which projection is for Contreras.
| Player | PA | Avg. | HR | RBI | R | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 441 | .271 | 13 | 55 | 48 | 5 |
| Player B | 491 | .264 | 19 | 65 | 54 | 1 |
| Player C | 449 | .237 | 19 | 54 | 59 | 2 |
| Player D | 429 | .230 | 17 | 54 | 49 | 1 |
Player A is Contreras, who as we know, currently has an ADP of 91.46. Salvador Perez is Player B and isn't going off the board until around pick 129. Yasmani Grandal is right behind him as Player C with an ADP of 146.78. Brian McCann rounds out this group as the lowest ranked player (9th catcher, ADP of 165.07) and has Player D's projection.
Given his age and the point he's at in his career, Contreras could truly break out and outperform the above numbers, but there's also a chance he struggles in his sophomore season. The other backstops don't have that same exciting feeling since they're not up-and-comers anymore, but they also come with a proven track record.
For a position that's not as deep as others for fantasy production, reliability is huge. These catchers bring that to the table, while also allowing you to use that seventh-round pick to pick a player that's potentially not as risky.
